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Riin Somelar

Riin Somelar (b. 1964 in Paide)

1992 Tallinn Art University

A tidy worktable is a bit disturbing, especially when there are no unfinished works on it. It is too tabula rasa, as if you should start everything all over again. But see, there is an incomplete detail. I set small stones beside it. One suits perfectly. I put the idea combination aside and start a new work. Meanwhile I arrange pieces of wire in a line on the table; seems like something is forming of them. I like one option and make a drawing of it. It is very suitable for the jewellery I’ve started to make, but still I should start a new one for the original idea… I play with details, every connection forms a different figure and seems interesting. Finally, a jewellery is born from the harmony of chance.- In the book “A-Gallery. Estonian art jewellery gallery for 20 years” (2014)


“I once made a medal for the Estonian National Museum, as a commission. I waited a long time and made sketches, it involved a lot of thinking. In my mind, I had already given up and finally, when it was decided that they in fact did want my design, I had five days. Somehow I managed to complete it, with all sorts of pieces and details from previous works being suitable together. It felt like someone was helping me. It’s a strange logic, that works for me or for metal artists – pieces or thoughts often are left unfinished, but they are like a piece of a puzzle; they always end up fitting in somewhere. Even six years later.” – Riin Somelar at the A-Gallery exhibition MEMORY CARDS (2019)

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